Indies Appear Amid Comic-Con Fandom

Indies Appear Amid Comic-Con Fandom

Comic-Con rolls around every year, and with it comes countless panels with Hollywood stars, answering hackneyed questions from fans in ridiculous homemade costumes. With all the promotional frenzy surrounding this year’s slate of comic book adaptations and teen vampire movies, very few notable indie or auteur projects manage to make a splash at the annual convention.

However, there have been a few exceptions this year. One of the most talked about films this year has been Nicholas Winding Refn’s “Drive,” which won him the Best Director Award at Cannes. Thompson on Hollywood covered the film’s panel, which included the well-received premiere of the film’s red-band trailer.

Also on the panel was Guillermo Del Toro, there to promote his horror remake “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark,” and the two exchanged their ideas on realism in filmmaking. According to the LA Times: “Del Toro extolled the virtues of the realism of Refn’s work, noting that he takes an entirely opposite approach to creating his richly detailed worlds by fabricating everything.”

“Super Size Me” director Morgan Spurlock is also at Comic-Con, where he surprised audiences by sneaking a trailer for his new film onto the front of the Animation Showcase. Spurlock has always been a smart marketer, and this was no exception, as it turns out his next documentary is called “Comic-Con Episode Four: A Fan’s Hope,” and it was shot at last year’s convention. The Hollywood Reporter spoke to the director, who said the doc will be done and in theaters by mid-fall.

Another notable film to hold press junkets at the convention is Ridley Scott’s upcoming return to sci-fi, “Promethius.” According to the Hollywood Reporter, “Scott spoke to the audience via a live feed from the movie’s Iceland set, perhaps a Comic-Con first.” Actress Noomi Rapace also appeared on the feed, while Charlize Theron was on hand in San Diego to field questions about the film’s teaser clips.

Other sneak peeks included the first poster for Steven Soderbergh’s “Haywire” and Steven Spielberg’s first Comic-Con appearance for a look at new footage from “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn”.